StarCycle new spin on fitness

• StarCyle offers daily classes, with rides starting from 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays. To reserve a seat, visit www.starcycleride.com

• Class prices range from $18 for a single class to $270 for a 20-class package. A one-time, three-class pass is available for $30. Shoe rentals are $2.

• Craft-based child care is available for $5 per class.

At first glance, one of Clark County’s newest boutique fitness studios seems to be a calming place.

The walls are dark. Large candles illuminate the front of the room. Overhead lights are dimmed.

A mural of the skyline featuring Mount Hood, as seen from east Vancouver, spans across the back wall. The mural’s sky is painted deep purple. Stars fill the nightscape.

But first appearances can be deceiving.

The room is soon filled with booming music and humming spin bikes. The overhead lights are turned off, leaving only a soft spotlight on Salina Philbrook, perched on her bike at the front of the room.

Philbrook reminds the two dozen riders in the studio of the various positions for their hands on the handle bars, cranks up the music and launches into a 45-minute full-body workout, choreographed to the beat of music, performed entirely on the spin bike.

“It’s a party on the bike,” said Erica Gehlen.

This is StarCycle.

Camas residents Philbrook, Gehlen and Jen Humphrey opened the county’s first StarCycle studio in east Vancouver in May. The studio is the third in the Portland/Vancouver metro area and the first franchise. The first two StarCycle studios in Oregon cities Lake Oswego and Cedar Mill were opened by the founders, Erin Moone and Dionne Del Carlo.

The Camas trio all have ties to another local boutique fitness studio, barre3, which combines yoga and Pilates and incorporates the ballet barre.

Philbrook was an instructor at barre3 for 4½ years and has a background as a yoga and spin instructor. Gehlen was also a barre3 instructor for 3½ years. And Humphrey attended the classes.

“There was the need to have some cardio in our lives as well, to get that balance,” Philbrook said.

The trio heard about StarCycle and drove to Lake Oswego to check out a class.

“Hooked, day one,” Humphrey said.

The three teamed up — Philbrook and Gehlen with fitness instructor experience and Humphrey, a business owner — and opened the local studio.

StarCycle is unlike other group fitness classes in many ways, Philbrook said.

“It’s done all on the bike,” she said. “It’s a full-body workout all on the bike.”

The entire class is choreographed to the music. Riders pulse on and off of the bike seat to the beat of the music. They dip their shoulders, raise their arms and pace their pedaling to the rhythm. They work their arms, their core and, of course, their legs.

Riders wear shoes that lock them onto the pedals of the bike, and the entire class is performed in the dark, except for the light on the instructor and the candles.

The local StarCycle, 3215 S.E. 192nd Ave., Suite 100, is already growing in popularity. They’ve added classes and recently hired a fourth instructor, Eryn Washington.

They hope to add more classes, more bikes and, eventually, more studios. The goal is to operate three StarCycle franchises in Clark County.

Katie Berry-Jones of Camas heard about StarCycle from Philbrook, Gehlen and Humphrey. She tried a class in Lake Oswego and has been a regular at the Vancouver studio since it opened.

“I love the intensity,” said Berry-Jones, 38. “I’m a runner, so this gives me what I get from running without the injuries.”

The energy from the class, the challenge to give it her all and the lights-off concept are all reasons that bring Berry-Jones back to the class week after week, she said.

“I’m just thrilled this is here,” she said.

Rachel Williams, 39, tried cycling once after having a cesarean section and hated it. Still, she decided to try StarCycle — and loved it. She’s been attending classes ever since.

“The whole thing about fitness is if you don’t have fun, you won’t do it,” Williams said.

“I have not worked this hard in a while,” she added.

The classes can be modified for people with physical limitations, Humphrey said. And Philbrook encourages people to find their limit, then slowly work to extend it.

“The hardest part is getting to the door,” Philbrook said. “From there, we take it.”